Privacy Policy

At iLoveSudoku, accessible from https://ilovesudoku.net (and all related subdomains, services, or mirrors, collectively referred to as "iLoveSudoku", "we", "us", or "our"), one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document outlines the types of information that is collected and recorded by iLoveSudoku and how we use, safeguard, and disclose it.

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact our team through our Contact Page or via email at privacy@ilovesudoku.net.

1. Scope & Consent

This Privacy Policy applies exclusively to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they share and/or collect in iLoveSudoku. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled when you use iLoveSudoku. Where required by applicable data protection laws (including for visitors in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland), explicit consent for non-essential cookies and personalized advertising is requested through a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP). If you do not agree with our operational data practices, you may discontinue using the site at any time.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in two primary ways: information you directly provide to us, and information automatically collected through standard internet technologies, site analytics, and third-party advertising partners.

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

iLoveSudoku does not require user registration or account creation to enjoy full access to all puzzle difficulties, solver utilities, printing features, or daily challenges. However, if you contact us directly via our support forms or email addresses, we may receive personal information including:

• Your full or display name
• Your contact email address
• The subject matter, content of the message, and any attachments you choose to transmit to us
• Any other diagnostic or bug report information you voluntarily provide

B. Automatically Collected Data (Hosting & CDN Logs)

Our hosting/CDN infrastructure may record standard HTTP request data such as IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp, referrer, and response status for security, reliability, and operational monitoring:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address of the connecting device
• Browser user-agent, operating system, and hardware architecture
• Requested uniform resource identifier (URI) path and HTTP protocol version
• HTTP response status code, referrer URL, and payload byte size
• Timestamp of the incoming edge network transaction

Data Handling & Retention: Cloudflare edge server logs are maintained by Cloudflare in accordance with their enterprise infrastructure security protocols (typically retained in transient edge caches or operational log streams for up to 30 days before automated deletion or anonymized aggregation). iLoveSudoku administrators access aggregate traffic analytics to diagnose 404 errors, monitor global bandwidth latency, and mitigate automated scraping attacks. We do not correlate edge network IP addresses with individual user identity profiles.

C. Client-Side Browser Storage (HTML5 LocalStorage)

To ensure instantaneous load times, uninterrupted play during network disconnection, and maximum privacy, iLoveSudoku stores the majority of game-related state exclusively on your local client hardware via HTML5 localStorage and sessionStorage. This includes:

• Current puzzle grid numbers, pencil mark notes, and move history (undo/redo stacks)
• Difficulty preferences, high contrast/dark mode toggles, and audio effect settings
• Completed puzzle counts, win streaks, personal best completion times, and tournament scores

Important: This data resides exclusively inside your personal browser sandbox. iLoveSudoku servers do not ingest, upload, or sell your local puzzle save states. (Note: Optional competitive features like the Daily Challenge and Tournaments calculate completion statistics locally). You can clear this data at any time via your browser's "Clear Browsing Data / Local Storage" menu or the in-game Reset feature.

3. Cookies and Web Beacons

Like any modern web property, iLoveSudoku uses "cookies". Cookies are small text files placed on your device to store information including visitors' preferences and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users' experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors' browser type and/or other information.

You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. Detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective official websites.

4. Third-Party Analytics & Advertising Cookies

iLoveSudoku may partner with reputable third-party advertising networks and analytics providers to help maintain infrastructure, hosting, and continuous feature development. Third-party vendors may use cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons to measure campaign effectiveness and personalize advertising content based on prior visits to this website or other sites on the internet.

• Third-party advertising partners automatically receive your IP address when ad units or tags are loaded in your browser.
• Visitors may review and manage their personalized advertising preferences via Google Ads Settings at: https://myadcenter.google.com/.
• Users can also opt out of third-party interest-based advertising via the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/ or the Digital Advertising Alliance at https://aboutads.info/choices/.
• EU/UK Consent Framework (TCF v2.3): For traffic originating in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, and Switzerland, our advertising implementation adheres to Google's EU User Consent Policy and integrates with a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) supporting the latest IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF v2.3).

5. Third-Party Privacy Policies & Opt-Outs

iLoveSudoku's Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers, service providers, or websites. We advise you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party services for more detailed information regarding their practices and instructions on how to opt-out.

Please note that iLoveSudoku has no access to or control over cookies placed by third-party analytics or ad networks.

6. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Privacy Rights

Under the CCPA, among other rights, California consumers have the right to:

• Right to Know: Request that a business that collects a consumer's personal data disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal data that a business has collected about consumers.
• Right to Deletion: Request that a business delete any personal data about the consumer that a business collected.
• Right to Opt-Out: Request that a business that sells or shares a consumer's personal data, not sell or share the consumer's personal data ("Do Not Sell My Personal Information").
• Right to Non-Discrimination: Enjoy equal service and pricing without discrimination for exercising your CCPA privacy rights.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us immediately via our Contact Us Page.

7. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Rights

We want to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom is entitled to the following:

• The right to access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service if requests are unfounded or excessive.
• The right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
• The right to erasure: You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to data portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one calendar month to provide an initial response. To exercise any of these rights, please reach out through our contact form.

8. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Another core priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents, guardians, and educators to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

iLoveSudoku does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

9. Data Security & Storage Integrity

We adopt appropriate, modern data collection, storage, and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of any communication data exchanged with our site. Communication between your browser and our servers is encrypted using standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) / Transport Layer Security (TLS) HTTPS protocols.

10. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect modifications in our operational procedures, legal mandates, or advertising network standards. We will notify you of any changes by posting the updated Privacy Policy on this URL and updating the "Last Updated" timestamp at the top of this document. Changes are effective immediately upon being published on this page.

11. Contact Information

If you have any questions, clarifications, suggestions, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please reach out to us at:

• Website: https://ilovesudoku.net/contact/
• Privacy Contact Email: privacy@ilovesudoku.net
• General Support Email: support@ilovesudoku.net